On Wednesday the 8th of March Year 10 students and their Religion teachers attended the Year 10 Reflection Day. The day was a great success, with students from Year 11 coming along to assist as group leaders.

In the Catholic calendar the day before the Lenten period commences is known as Shrove Tuesday. As a Catholic community the students of St Andrews College marked the occasion of Shrove Tuesday by cooking and selling pancakes to raise funds for St Vincent de Paul.

In the weeks leading up the 9th of January a number of SAC students including Year 11 Drama student Nicolas Menohous and Year 12 Drama student Guet MacAcuek as well as a number of students from two other local Catholic Colleges, were all part of the CAPTIVATE Drama Program and gave up their holiday time to rehearse and then participate in this world wide competition.

Ten St Andrews College students achieved an ATAR of over 90. Our ATAR Dux Khang Nguyen achieved an ATAR of 99.40, ATAR 2nd Place Marc Isakov achieved an ATAR 98.35, ATAR 3rd Place Katrina Quizon achieved an ATAR of 97.15. Khang also achieved sixth place in the State for Music.

Mr Antonio Chiappetta, Leader of Learning Creative and Performing Arts was one of the presenters at the Australian Independent Music Awards, held at the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday the 26th of October.

On Friday the 21st of October, two of my peers and I were invited to attend the annual mass of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) of the Archdiocese of Sydney at Glenmore Park Parish. Here we were given the privilege to experience a mass led by the Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen and Priests of the Diocese.

On the 12th of October 2016, four students along with Mrs Melki and Mrs Becroft were selected to represent St Andrews College at an excursion, "A Day At The Table", at St Patrick's Cathedral in Parramatta.

On Tuesday the 13th and Wednesday the 14th of September students from schools in the Penrith, Blacktown and Hawkesbury areas took up the challenge to test their knowledge and learn about engineering in a two-day event at Western Sydney University.

On Thursday the 8th of September Jessica Hostiadi, one of our College Captains, was presented to Very Rev Chris De Souza General and Episcopal Vicar for Education and Formation and Mr Greg Whitby, Executive Director for Schools as the St Andrews College recipient of the Bishop of Parramatta Award for Student Excellence.

This year St Andrews College nominated two students to be recognised for their exceptional effort in their work placement and their Vocational Education and Training studies at the Schools Industry Partnership VET Awards.

On the 6th of September both Year 12 Chemistry and Year 12 Physics students visited ANSTO. This excursion was divided in two parts. The first involved a visit to the nuclear reactor and the second a lecture on nuclear technology and its uses.

Earlier this year students from Year 8 to Year 12, who are currently studying Japanese, had been busy folding and constructing over 1000 paper cranes to take on the Japan Study Tour. During the Term 2 School Holidays,

The best thing about being a part of the diving community is that it is a small, close knit, group. Everyone, from novice to Olympian, can be seen training together, sharing the boards, and most importantly supporting and giving each other advice.

With the weather turning it the heat up it was time for the Athletes to follow suit. A healthy dedicated team of close to 40 athletes represented St Andrews at the PDSSSC Athletics Carnival on Wednesday the 17th of August.

Over the past three terms, St Andrews College has been competing in the 2016 CSDA Debating Competition. It has been a phenomenal season with our debaters going above and beyond by giving up their Friday nights to travel to different schools across Sydney to compete in each round of the competition.

On the 20th of June, Year 7 students had an incursion in the hall with the people from verbal combat. Verbal combat is one of the many theatre productions from Brainstorm Productions and targets bullying in schools, cyber-bullying and prejudice.

On Wednesday the 22nd of June, Year 9 took part in an all day Pastoral Program. The female students attended The Butterfly Effect - Enlightened Education Program and the male students completed The Self-Esteem Education and Development Program.

The Senior Team played Girraween A at Girraween. Fatog Makog, Darrymen Deligero, James Biniahan and Raushik Chandra believe that Girraween are the Team to beat in the Competition. Although all members lost their games, they enjoyed testing their mental strength.

Our local environment affects not only us but also all the living things that are found there. Each local environment possesses unique physical, chemical geological and biological features. These features interact and are often connected by the operation of natural cycles.

On the 7th of June, the Mathematics Extension 1 and 2 students attended the Enrichment Day at The University of Sydney. University lecturers together with some experienced Mathematics Extension 2 teachers developed the day to support and inspire students studying these challenging courses.

Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains warmly welcomed Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv as the fourth Bishop of Parramatta on the evening of Thursday 16 June 2016 in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta.

Four students from St Andrews College proudly represented the school at the recent NSW All Schools Diving Championships. The competition took place on Friday the 6th of May at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

NSW Parliamentary Education invited Laurice Gravador and Maria Granada to attend the Young Women’s Leadership Seminar on Thursday, 12th May to discuss concepts and definitions of leadership, issues that might affect women in leadership roles and to meet inspiring women leaders from our Parliament and community.

Being able to immerse one’s self in the traditions of a different religion is a rare experience to come by, however, this was exactly what the Year 11 students of Mrs Melki’s Studies of Religion II class did on Friday the 1st of April.

Wednesday the 27th of April, St Andrews College participated in the annual Athletics Carnival at Blacktown International Sportspark. It was a wonderful day with the sun shining bright and everyone in good spirits

NSW Combined Catholic Colleges Diving competition took place on Friday the 29th of April at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. This year, again, St Andrews College brought a strong team of competitors across most of the age groups with students competing in both the springboard and platform events.

On Thursday the 31st of March Western Sydney University held the annual Fast Forward Year 9 Awards Night at the Parramatta Campus to congratulate the Year 9 students who have been selected by their school to participate in the Program.

On the night of Good Friday, 25th of March, 19 students from Year 11 and 12 participated in the annual Parramatta Good Friday Walk, walking 21km overnight. This walk was a reminder of the passion of Jesus and what He did for us.

“Stations of the Cross” at St Andrews College is a Senior Drama class tradition, and this year we continued with our cross curricular work with the Religion Department , VET Entertainment and of course Year 11 Drama.

On the 17th of March, the Chang House began their reflective journey at Winmalee Christian Conference Centre. From the Year 11 morning Mass, the grade began to reflect on their lives and the journey ahead.

On the 24th of February, the year 11 and 12 Japanese class, accompanied by Ms. Mizukami and Mr. Roseby, travelled to the city. We went to the Monkey Baa Theatre in Darling Harbour, the Kinokuniya Bookshop, MUJI, a Japanese convenience store and Mizuya Japanese Restaurant and Karaoke.

On Thursday the 18th of February, Ms Mizukami organised a special Japanese study workshop for us. She invited our Senpai (the upperclassmen) to visit the Japanese Continuers class: Mr Julian Abacan Luna, Mr Tristan Bongolan andMiss Emma Webb. They are past students of St Andrews College who also studied HSC Japanese Continuers.

A chance meeting with Australian Living Treasure, previous Australian of the Year and entrepreneur, Dick Smith, was one of the many highlights of a city visit by St Andrews College Year 12 History Extension students.

2015 has been an extraordinary year of the r Vinnie’s Group. At the start of the year we asked for people to put down their interest to be in Vinnie’s and it was amazing to find that there were over 40 applications!

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Parramatta have seen some exceptional results in the 2015 Higher School Certificate (HSC) with a number of schools making significant improvements in their overall results.

On Wednesday the 8th of November our Year 12 Drama students, along with students from Toongabbie Christian College and Doonside Technology High School participated in a workshop run by Illuminate Education.

On Friday the 6th of November, myself, Andrew Spiteri, alongside another three Year 10 students being Joel Mathias, Elizabeth Burns and Jamielhea Bernardo were given the opportunity to be involved in Catechist training.

Katrina Quizon and Khang Nguyen, are the 2015 recipients of the Victor Chang Award. This Award is in recognition of their consistent outstanding efforts and achievements in the Science courses that they undertook in Year 11.

Over the past three terms, St Andrews College has been competing in the 2015 CSDA Debating Competition. It has been a phenomenal season with our debaters going above and beyond by giving up their Friday nights to travel to different schools across Sydney to compete in each round of the competition.

On the 21st and 22nd of July, the Year 8 students went on an informative excursion to Taronga Zoo, organised by Mr Isaac and the science teachers. It was a great day that proved to be effective in teaching ecology terms and systems and was enjoyable to those who participated.

The annual Principals’ Masterclass was held on 8 and 9 October 2015, at Rooty Hill RSL, giving school leaders a valuable opportunity to come together to share ideas and participate in professional learning.

On Friday the 14th of August, a group of talented students represented the College at the PDSSSC Dance competition at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. Students from Years 7-12 performed group dances in the Hip-Hop and Jazz sections with Jessica Turner of Year 10 performing in the Senior Solo category.

Ms Emily Pett, Debating and Public Speaking Co-ordinator, was proud to announce that on Friday 24th of July at the CSDA Debating Grand Final, St Andrews College was awarded the 2015 Jane Sulis Shield for Best and Fairest Performance by a school.

On the 12th of June the Vinnies Winter Sleepout took place in the library. Students learned about the statistics surrounding the homeless population around Australia from two students in the Vinnie’s Executive Team.

Thirty students met on Wednesday 20th of May to write three books. Each team was given a different set of parameters that they had to follow and in 12 hours they had to create, write, illustrate, print and bind “ready to be posted” books.

On the 24-26th of March, I was honoured with the opportunity to be one of the 29 youth from NSW to go to the National Schools Constitutional Convention for 2015. Overall, 120 students from government, independent and Catholic schools around Australia were selected to attend this convention, which was held at the Old Parliament House in Canberra.

On Monday the 11th of May the St Andrews College Senior Boys Football Team were pumped and ready. United by their drive and passion for the game. The boys sought out the challenge and were ready to play off against local schools in an all day gala.

The Fast Forward Program is a partnership between the University of Western Sydney and schools in Greater Western Sydney. The program aims to help students to see the value of continuing their education through to Year 12 and beyond.

Students from St Andrew’s College, Marayong took part in an online first recently, joining with Catholic schools across the country for a Project Compassion Google chat with Fijian ambassadors Eric and Ma Narayan.

Year 12 Streamwatch students each fortnight monitor the environment of Breakfast Creek and its water quality. Students record any pollution and wildlife present and forward the results to Sydney Water.

On Wednesday 25th February, eight members of the Year 11 Social Justice team and eight members of Year 10 Vinnie’s Group travelled to OLMC to discuss global issues with schools from all over Western Sydney.

The YCS first major leadership event proved to be triumphant as our Movie Night on Friday, 21 November, was an overwhelming success. With a total number of 60 people in attendance including students from Loyola, Nagle, St Andrews as well as representatives from Holy Trinity Parish, we gathered together to celebrate the past leaders of YCS.

Amazing and Life Changing, the first words I think of when somebody asks me how the Thai Immersion Trip of 2014. I can proudly say that the two weeks spent in Thailand with six of my classmates along with Mr Vidot and Ms Nash, was the best experience of my life.

“Honoured, amazing and simply fantastic!” – that’s how 16 year old Chanae Ince describes her success, winning both the Outstanding Achievement in Business Services Award and Vocational Education and Training (VET) Student of the Year

The Creative and Performing Arts Faculty at St Andrews College not only provides Music students with class based opportunities in Performance, Musicology and Composition, but also opens up avenues for exploration into production and understanding industry standards.

The Japan Study Tour was one of the best experiences of my life so far, being able to travel to a different country and experience firsthand the school life in Japan and experience the Japanese culture amongst its people.

The Japanese Study tour commenced on the 29th of June and we travelled through five cities in Japan before the tour ended on the 10th of July. The tour was both an enjoyable and educational experience.

On Wednesday 17 September the St Andrews College community celebrated the Academic, Sporting, Community Service and Cultural achievements of Year 12 2014 at the Graduation Ceremony held in the St Andrews Hall.

The annual Bishop of Parramatta Awards for Student Excellence, which recognises the religious and academic achievement of senior secondary students across the Diocese of Parramatta, were held at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday 11 September.

As part of their Geography studies Year 12 students completed a fieldtrip to observe the spatial patterns of urban dynamics and the challenges of producing quality grapes when our weather is so variable.

There will be a stop work meeting Wednesday 23 July 2014 for 3 hours from the commencement of school. The action involves members of the Independent Education Union (IEU) to discuss concerns regarding the proposed new Enterprise Agreement. We do not expect any interruption to school attendance and supervision will be provided. Normal classes will resume from 11.30am.

This year’s Captivate Drama saw students Cynthia Florek, James Irvine, Emma Webb, Raechel Rudolph and Elizabeth May bring to life the production of The Book Of Everything over three nights in the recently named St John Paul II Centre on 13, 14 and 15 June.

To commemorate the Canonisation of Pope John Paul II and his connection to the Diocese of Parramatta, Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, has announced that Terra Sancta College will be renamed St John Paul II Catholic College, Nirimba and Schofields from the commencement of Term 3 this year.

The proposed new Enterprise Agreement was sent to all Catholic school staff and the Independent Education Union (IEU) today, Monday 7 April to begin a process of consultation to consolidate a number of existing agreements into a single state-wide agreement which supports high quality contemporary teaching and learning.

McCarthy Catholic Trade Training Centre assistant principal, John Wills, said trade training courses are not only a great employment pathway for secondary students, they also help to address the skills shortage in trades such as brick and blocklaying.

The findings and recommendations of the Review of Religious Education for Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta were presented to a forum of over 200 parish priests, principals and Religious Education coordinators on 5 June at Rosehill Gardens.

A report in a Sydney newspaper saying Catholic school teachers are considering strike action over a proposed Enterprise Agreement from Catholic employers is premature and does not do justice to the consultation process says Executive Director of Schools, Greg Whitby.

Students from the Diocese of Parramatta have excelled in the Executive Director’s Summer Reading Challenge with over 8,000 books read during the summer. Over 500 students from Catholic schools across the Diocese of Parramatta entered the competition this year.

Catholic school teachers and leaders from the Diocese of Parramatta, schools outside the diocese, and the NSW Department of Education met at the Aengus Kavanagh Centre on Wednesday 19 March to form a professional learning community (PLC) for sustainability.